Apparatus and method for presenting media content

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9774845-B2
Application number	US-201615165116-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 26, 2016
Priority date	Jun 4, 2010
Publication date	Sep 26, 2017
Grant date	Sep 26, 2017

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, controller and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the controller, facilitate performance of operations that include receiving a media content including three-dimensional image content for presentation on a display device. A presence is determined of a viewer within a line-of-sight of the display device, wherein the viewer is without a viewing apparatus that facilitates viewing of the three-dimensional image content. The media content is adapted to include two-dimensional image content, based on the determining of the presence of the viewer within the line-of-sight and without the viewing apparatus. Other embodiments are disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A media processor, comprising:
a processing system including a processor; and
a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations comprising:
receiving media content comprising three-dimensional image content;
determining a presence of a viewer without a viewing apparatus, wherein the viewing apparatus supports viewing of the media content, and wherein the determining the presence of the viewer without the viewing apparatus is based on monitoring for a signal emitted by the viewing apparatus and determining, based on a signal strength of the signal, that the viewing apparatus is within a predetermined distance of a display device;
obtaining a two-dimensional version of the media content that comprises two-dimensional image content, responsive to the determining of the presence of the viewer without the viewing apparatus; and
providing the two-dimensional version of the media content to the display device, wherein the display device displays the two-dimensional version of the media content.

2. The media processor of claim 1 , wherein the determining the presence of the viewer without the viewing apparatus further comprises scanning for the signal emitted by the viewing apparatus.

3. The media processor of claim 1 , wherein determining that the viewing apparatus is within the predetermined distance comprises determining, based on a triangulation, that the viewing apparatus is within the predetermined distance of the display device.

4. The media processor of claim 1 , wherein the display device is incorporated with the media processor in a television, the operations further comprising determining that a line-of-sight between the viewing apparatus and the media processor is unobstructed based on the signal strength of the signal, a signal type of the signal, or both.

5. The media processor of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving a control signal from a remote control, wherein the obtaining the two-dimensional version of the media content comprises adjusting, by the processing system, the media content to obtain the two-dimensional version based on the receiving of the control signal from the remote control.

6. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a processing system including a processor, media content comprising three-dimensional image content;
determining, by the processing system, a first presence of a viewer without a viewing apparatus based on monitoring for a signal emitted by the viewing apparatus and determining, based on a signal strength of the signal, that the viewing apparatus is within a predetermined distance of a display device, wherein the viewing apparatus supports viewing of the media content, wherein the determining the first presence of the viewer without the viewing apparatus is based on detecting a second presence of the viewing apparatus;
obtaining, by the processing system, a two-dimensional version of the media content that comprises two-dimensional image content, responsive to the determining of the first presence of the viewer without the viewing apparatus; and
providing, by the processing system, the two-dimensional version of the media content to the display device, wherein the display device displays the two-dimensional version of the media content.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the determining the second presence of the viewing apparatus further comprises capturing, by the processing system, an image of a viewing area by a camera operably coupled to a media processor.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the determining the first presence of the viewer without the viewing apparatus further comprises determining, by the processing system, a number of viewers present within the viewing area of the display device, and applying image recognition to the image of the viewing area to identify a face of the viewer.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the three-dimensional image content comprises a plurality of image pairs, each image pair of the plurality of image pairs comprising a left image and a right image that are oppositely polarized, and wherein the obtaining the two-dimensional version of the media content comprises adjusting, by the processing system, the three-dimensional image content by replacing in each image pair of the plurality of image pairs one of the left image or the right image with another one of the left image or the right image of the image pairs.

10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising receiving, by the processing system, a control signal from a remote control, wherein the obtaining the two-dimensional version of the media content comprises adjusting, by the processing system, the media content to obtain the two-dimensional version based on the receiving of the control signal from the remote control.

11. A machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
receiving media content comprising three-dimensional image content;
determining a presence of a viewer without a viewing apparatus, wherein the viewing apparatus supports viewing of the media content, and wherein the determining the presence of the viewer without the viewing apparatus is based on monitoring for a signal emitted by the viewing apparatus and determining, based on a signal strength of the signal, that the viewing apparatus is within a predetermined distance of a display device;
receiving a request for two-dimensional image content responsive to input entered into a remote control by the viewer;
obtaining a two-dimensional version of the media content comprising two-dimensional image content, responsive to the request for the two-dimensional image content; and
providing the two-dimensional image content to the display device coupled to a media processor, wherein the display device displays the two-dimensional version of the media content.

12. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise presenting an option to view the media content as one of two-dimensional images or three-dimensional images responsive to the viewing apparatus not being detected by the media processor.

13. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise presenting a graphical user interface displaying a text message that provides the option.

14. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein text message is based on viewer preferences from a viewer profile, viewer pre-selections, or a combination thereof.

15. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the obtaining the two-dimensional version of the media content comprises adjusting the media content to obtain the two-dimensional version.

16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the three-dimensional image content comprises image pairs comprising left images and right images that are oppositely polarized, and wherein the obtaining the two-dimensional version of the media content comprises adjusting the media content by replacing one of the left images or the right images of the image pairs with another one of the left images or the right images of the image pairs.

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp
• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• King Robert
• Carter Sharon E

Classifications

• H04N13/398

  Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof · CPC title

• H04N13/341

  using temporal multiplexing · CPC title

• H04N13/359 Primary

  Switching between monoscopic and stereoscopic modes · CPC title

• H04N13/368

  for two or more viewers · CPC title

• H04N13/139

  Format conversion, e.g. of frame-rate or size · CPC title